A Washington, D.C., lady accused of assaulting a federal agent was discovered not responsible by a jury on Thursday, the newest embarrassment for Jeanine Pirro, President Donald Trump’s U.S. lawyer for the District of Columbia.
Prosecutors had alleged Sidney Lori Reid kicked a Federal Bureau of Investigation agent throughout an altercation exterior the D.C. Jail in July. Reid had been filming Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers whereas they have been detaining a person who’d simply been launched from the jail.
Pirro’s workplace tried 3 times to indict Reid on a felony assault cost, however D.C. grand juries declined to return an indictment every time — a extremely uncommon prevalence that advised the flimsiness of the federal government’s case.
After whiffing on the felony counts, prosecutors ended up attempting Reid on a misdemeanor cost of assaulting or impeding a federal agent — however they couldn’t even win that case. The jury deliberated for lower than two hours on Thursday earlier than returning the decision of not responsible, WUSA9 reported.
Reid, in an announcement by her attorneys, mentioned the decision exhibits “that this administration and their peons are not able to invoke fear in all citizens.”
“I feel sorry for the prosecutors really, who must be burdened by Trump’s irrational and unfounded hatred for his fellow man,” she mentioned. “Knowing that I can stand in front of 12 of my fellow citizens and be found not guilty for standing up for basic human rights makes me feel like, despite the scary times we live in, we have hope for the future.”
Kevin Dietsch through Getty Photos
A spokesperson for Pirro couldn’t instantly be reached on Thursday.
Reid’s public defenders, Tezira Abe and Eugene Ohm, mentioned in an announcement that the case was meant to be a “warning” from the Justice Division that it could “have the backs of ICE goons.”
“And though we’re pleased with the result, Ms. Reid cannot get back the two nights she spent in jail because ICE wanted to teach her a lesson,” they mentioned.
Reid’s arrest preceded Trump’s federal takeover of policing in Washington in August, nevertheless it was a part of a string of doubtful circumstances by which Pirro alleged district residents had assaulted federal officers in the middle of their duties.
In a number of circumstances, prosecutors initially pursued felony costs that carried as much as eight years in jail, however finally dropped them after both grand juries rejected them or their weaknesses grew to become all too obvious. No less than two judges voiced their frustration in hearings final month at how such costs have been being filed after which dropped.
In a closing argument for Reid, Abe referred to the federal brokers as a lawless “goon squad,” and argued the case was an enormous waste of time, in keeping with WUSA9. “You should be livid that the government brought this case,” she mentioned.
Paul Nguyen, who’d been accused of assaulting a Division of Homeland Safety officer throughout an early-morning scuffle close to a bar, ended up spending 4 nights in jail. His case was finally thrown out.
“It was the scariest experience of my life,” Nguyen informed HuffPost of his keep on the D.C. Jail, including that he supposed to file a civil lawsuit over the ordeal.
Authorized consultants informed HuffPost final month that Pirro’s workplace seemed to be overcharging individuals for small offenses and that it may destroy public belief within the metropolis’s prosecutors.
“When they throw the book at people for minor crimes, it kind of maps onto this sense that a lot of people in the Black community have that prosecutors are out to lock up everybody they can,” mentioned Paul Butler, a professor on the Georgetown College Legislation Middle. “That the interest isn’t so much public safety as it is putting people in prison.”
A Washington man who was charged with assault after throwing a sandwich at a U.S. Customs and Border Safety agent is scheduled to face trial subsequent month.
Abe and Ohm mentioned that they had religion jurors within the district would reject circumstances they imagine lack benefit.
“The Department of Justice can continue to take these cases to trial to suppress dissent and to try and intimidate the people,” they mentioned. “But in the end, as long as we have a jury system, our citizens will continue to rebuke the DOJ through speedy acquittals.”
